The Games
by morningnight
Summary: In the real world that we all live in a sick man, who fell in love with a worldwide phenomenon book series, decides to recreate it in real life scenario. Emma, who was taken to the arena to fight for her life must make the hard decision of whether she will kill her only friends in a place unknown to her. Will Emma allow this man to use her by kill more innocents? Low M rating
1. Chapter 1

The Games

"Run!" I screamed as loud as I could, hoping he would hear. "Michael run!" Something grabbed my arm and I looked to find a girl staring up at me with a terrified look. She was scared. I was scared. We both were terrified of what would happen.

"We can't do anything!" She said, tears swelling in her eyes. "We need to go."

"I'm not leaving him!" I yelled at her. I pulled my arm from her grasp and ran closer to him and pulled out an arrow. I set it and aimed, but before I could release it, Michael turned his attention to me. This made me freeze. My arm began to tremble and whether it was because of the weight pulling on it or the fact that just by looking into his eyes, I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to run. He wanted me to put down my arrow and run to safety.

 _You have to get out of here. You have to get back home,_ His words echoed around in my head, and for a second, I wanted to cry. No, I was crying. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything because I knew I wouldn't be able to. I was too weak. _You're not a killer Emma._

I lowered my bow as a tear fell down my cheek. He was right, I wasn't a killer. Taking someone's life wasn't me and I needed to hold onto that for as long as I could.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

"Have a nice day!" I yelled as a customer walked past me. They walked to the exit, not even giving me a second look. I flipped them off before turning back to my work. I was restocking the shelves. It was late October and with the holiday coming close, I was told we needed to have everything ready for the late rush.

"Emma, make sure everything is straight!" called my boss as she walked past me. I rolled my eyes before fixing the one or two objects that were out of order. Here, everything needed to be straight. Nothing was allowed to be out of place or moved, but that of course was coming down from the hirer ups. Thinking they know everything as they sit in their fancy desks all day, never experiencing what is was like here down at the bottom.

"So, did you hear? Another person went missing," A girl appeared at my side, wearing the same blue khaki pants and navy shirt as I. Her brown hair was died up in a ponytail and her face was lined with light makeup. "Do you think it could be a serial killer?"

"Probably. Why else would they keep taking people?" I shrugged as I place another item on the self.

"What if they come here?" She gasped sarcastically. I looked at her and rolled my eyes. This girl was my co-worker Melissa. She always played around like this, thinking that was never any real danger.

"Melissa, your full of it," I said, adding more items to the shelf. A customer walked by, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slow to look at the two of us. "No one is coming to kidnap anyone. I mean for god sake, we are in Washington."

"Well Twilight happened and you saw want that was like," She joked. I gave her an annoyed look, but my smile failed me and we both laughed. Behind her, I saw the customer again, and I put my attention on him.

"Can I help you find something sir?" I asked. He looked at the two of us and grew nervous.

"Ah, no. I'm just looking for some up paper and pens." He said, looking around. Something seemed off about him, but so did most customers. We had a pharmacy in the back, and most of the customers are here for them.

"It's in aisle two, in the back corner," I said, pointing him towards the area. He mumbled a thanks before heading back there.

"Why don't people read the god damn signs?" Melissa sighed. She leaned against the shelf like she was exhausted. "I mean, how hard is it?"

"Apparently very," I said as I felt something in my back pocket go off. I pulled my phone out to see a text message.

Pizza okay for dinner?

It was my boyfriend, and thankfully, he knew me so well. I texted back a reply before continuing to do my work.

"Gotta date?" Melissa wiggled her eye brows. I shook my head as the customer who wanted paper walked by. "I got it. Tell make sure you tell me _all_ the details or your nasty bed stuff." She walked away before I could say anything else.

An hour and a half later, I was finally free. I walked down the street in the pitch blackness towards my house. I only lived a few blocks away from my job, which was nice. Though, with the weather getting colder by the day, it was getting difficult for me to stand.

I turned down a street that was sort of a short cut to my house. The street lights were very dim and it seemed all the house lights were out. Part of me wanted to turn back around and go the long way, but at the same time, I was hungry and wanted pizza, so I decided to continue down this road.

When I was about halfway down the road, I saw lights shinning from behind me and I looked to find a car driving down the road slowly. I wrapped my jacket around me tighter before picking up my pace a little. I wasn't one to trust people, let alone in a car on a dark road.

The car slowly to a stop and a man got out of it.

"Excuse me!" He called to me, and instinctively, I stopped. I turned around and put my arms at my side, my one slipping into the side pack that I had. My fingers immediately found the pocket knife that was hidden inside.

"Yea, can I help you?" I asked. I put on my best smile as I tried to act as normal as possible.

"I'm a little lost. I'm looking for Miller Street, can you tell me where that is?" He walked over to me. He was wearing dark cloths and both of his hands were inside his jacket pockets.

"You are on Miller Street," I said, looking this man up and down. He looked like the man that had been in the store earlier. He got a strange look on his face, then pulled out a piece of paper.

"Oh, then can you help me find this address?" He walked closer to me and handed me the piece of paper, which I took. I unfolded it with my free hand and looked to find that it was blank.

"There is nothing-" I was cut off when a rag was placed over my mouth. I dropped the paper and grabbed at the arms that were trying to hold me still. I held my breath as I reached into my bag and pulled out the knife. I opened it and cut the hard that was holding the rag over my mouth. The man screamed as he released me and I spun around, getting ready to cut him again, but before I could, I was punched in the face. I hit the cement hard and I tasted blood in my mouth.

"Fucking bitch," I heard his say. I looked up at the man, but I was so dizzy I couldn't make out any details of him. All I saw through my blurry vision was him raising his foot and it coming down on my head. That was the last thing I remembered before I blacked out.

 _Who is she? Why did you bring her?_ A voice spoke around me. I couldn't move or open my eyes. All I could do was just lay here, on an uncomfortable surface.

 _I had no choice. You wanted twenty four, so I brought you the last one. What difference does it make?_ There was another voice, one I recognized. He was the man that had knocked me out. _She will work, just like any._

 _Just keep her under until we fix this._ The second voice said before I heard a door close. I heard some movement around in the room before something was stuck into my arm. I twitched slightly and I heard the man stop moving for a second. When I didn't do anything else, he continued.

"Stupid Snow. Think he knows everything," He mumbled to himself. "He should just be happy that I even got her. Cut my damn hand open in the process, not like he cares." There was some more noises before everything went silence again.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a white room. The first thing I did was lift my right arm to see what had been stuck in it. There was a small hole over my vein but that was it. I lifted my other arm and looked it over before sitting up to find me in different clothes then I had been in. Before I was in khaki pants and a dark blue button down, but now I was in a black long sleeved shirt and jeans. My shoes were gone and I was in black socks.

I looked around the room to find that I was the only thing in here. There was no bed, no window, nothing. I picked myself up off the floor as I looked at the door. Knowing the situation I was in, it was probably locked. I stood there for a moment, in the dimmed light, before the lights turned on, blinding me.

"Hello?" I called, as I shielded my eyes from the burning light. That's when I heard a creaking noise and looked to find the door swung open. "Is someone there?" I called as I walked towards it. When I was out of the room, I found myself in a hallway. I looked down and up the hallway, but there was no one. "Hello?" I called again. That's when I heard it. There was someone screaming and talking just down the hall. I decided to walk down to see what was going on. If there was someone else here, then maybe they could help me figure out what was going on.

At the end of the hallway a wall, nothing else. Thinking I had gotten lost, I turned back around when I heard a loud grinding noise. I turned to find another doorway and I cautiously walked through it.

"Let us out of here!"

"You can't keep us here like this!"

"Let us out!"

There were about twenty or so people in this plain circular room. Some were screaming and banging on the wall while others stood in groups all around it. They all seemed to notice when I entered and even a few ran at me. I backed up, but before I could get back out the door, the wall moved and blocked off all of our exits.

"LET US OUT!" screamed one of the girls as she ran to the wall behind me and started to bang loudly on it. "LET US OUT!"

"What's going on?" I asked, but no one paid any attention to me. They were all to concern with the door that had been there. A static noise filled the air and I covered my ears along with others as it got louder. Then it went dead.

"Look up there!" Someone screamed. I turned around to find a giant holographic screen appear. There was a man on it, who looked to be on the older side. He had white hair and a white beard, and a look of self-rigorousness.

"Hello, some of you might be wondering what you are doing here. I am here to answer that. My name in President Snow and each and every one of you has been chosen out of millions to participate in something wonderful," He was smiling brightly and I moved closer to the screen, listening to every word that fell from him mouth. "You all have been chosen to take place a real-life remaking of the Hunger Games!" No one in the room moved; no one in the room breathed. "I know many of you might seemed…unnerved by this, but I can promise you that it is a large honor. You are participating in a worldwide phenomenon and millions of people will adore you!"

"You can't do this!" screamed a girl. Tears were streaming down her face and a panicked and confused expression covered her rosy checks. The man on the screen looked down at her and smiled. "You can't do this! You can't make us do this!"

"Really?" he asked, seeming more assumed by this then he should. "Because it looks like I already have." He then turned his attention to everyone in the room. "Maybe the odds be ever in your favor." And he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

_The Games_

I sat on the floor, staring blankly at the ground. It had been an hour or so since the man on the screen informed us of everything. Most people panicked and tried breaking down the walls, others just cried and huddled against the ground, wishing to be somewhere else. Yet now, however long it has been since the announcement, people have calmed down. Most where in groups with others, sitting down in a circle. Two or three people, including myself, where sitting by ourselves, sitting on the ground waiting.

"Would someone shut her up?" A boy said, looking across the room in disgust. He was sitting with a group of three people, staring at a little girl crying loudly by herself. "We don't need her fucking crying to be the only noise in this god damn room."

"Leave her alone," said another boy. He was sitting with another young boy, leaning against the wall not far from her. "If crying helps her, who gives a shit."

"I do!" The boy stood up, looking ready to fight. "It's annoying!"

"Well you seem to be the only person that gives a shit!" The second boy stood up, but his friend grabbed onto his arm, stopping him from advancing towards the other. "So what? Let the girl cry! I'm sure all of us have already done it or are on the verge ourselves, so just leave her the fuck alone!" This made her cry even more.

"Stop," I said, my voice echoing around the room. Everyone looked at me as I pulled myself up. "Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere." I walked over to the little girl, who inched away from me. "Hey, it's okay, alright?" I said, crouching down in front of her. "What is your name?"

"Cassy," She said through her tears and hiccups.

"Hi Cassy, my name is Emma," I moved to sit by her and put my arms around her. She immediately cuddled against me. "Everything is going to be okay." I said, trying to reassure her. "I promise." She began to cry into my shirt and I held her tightly, blocking out the noise. The two boys that were standing up both quietly sat down. They looked sadly at the ground, but said nothing more. I was thankful for this, because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.

Again, hours went by and there was no word from the people who had kidnapped us. Some of the people that were sitting in small groups were talking in low voices. Though, I didn't hear a word any of them said. I was just sitting quietly in the corner of the round room, with Cassy asleep on my side. The boy who had defended Cassy kept looking towards us, but I took no notice. All the thoughts of where I was and what would happen to me were controlling my attention. Yet somehow I felt no sadness; no anger; nothing. Only confusion on why they chose me and worry about how I was going to get home.

There was the grinding noise again and the wall behind me shifted. We all looked to find a man and four others, all holding guns, walk inside.

"Stand up." He said. He had short hair that was just barely longer than a buzz cut. His face was tanned, but he still had a pale-ish tint to it. His clothes were dark, and his expression was stern. With the way he held himself, he had either a lot of confidence or had worked in a leader position for so many years that standing up straight came naturally to him. "Are you all deaf?" He asked, when none of us had done what he asked. He reached behind him and pulled out a gun before shooting the ceiling. "I said up!"

Without a second to waste, everyone in the room was on their feet. We all stood still, watching the pistol that he held in his hand.

"Good. My name is Jason. And I will escort you to the lunch room. If any of you try anything, trust me when I say we will not hesitate to shoot you down," He gestured to the gunman, who were wearing a strange all white outfit, behind him. We all stood still as they moved out of the way, unsure of what we could do. "Do I need to waste another bullet for you people to listen?" He held up the pistol again and people began to move forward, hesitating when it came time to walk through the door. I followed the rest of the group, watching the gunman out of the corner of my eye. I felt Cassy hugging the bottom of my shirt, staying as close to me as she physically could.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered to her. I reached down and grabbed her cold fragile hand and held it tightly as we disappeared into a long hallway. Two gunman were leading us down the hall towards a room at the end. I looked behind us to find two gunman pushing the few that struggled behind. Jason was walking far behind the rest, keeping out of any trouble.

"Keep moving," One of the gunman through the crowd and over to one of the boys that had defended Cassy. "Come on, your legs ain't broken yet so move faster!"

"Or what, you'll break them yourself?" The one boy commented. The gunman didn't find it funny at all. He slammed his rifle into the boys shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"Learn your place!" He snapped.

"Now, now peacekeeper," Jason walked over, his hand on the pistol. "Your job is to keep the peace, not start fights." The man held out his hand to the boy who was on the ground. He looked up at his friend before taking the man's hand.

"Thanks," He mumbled. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Jason turned his attention to the rest of us. "Keep moving. The slower you are, the less time you will have to eat." This seemed to make everyone move faster. We reached the end of the hall and the doors opened by themselves, revealing a plain room with metal tables and benches. On the far wall was a food bar, but from the smell in the room, nothing seemed appetizing.

"You will have exactly twenty five minutes to eat. You will be alone in here, but every one of your moments will be watched; every whisper will be heard. " He and the four peacekeeper then walked out the doors and closed behind them. A second later, there was a loud switch noise telling us that they had locked the doors.

Slowly everyone walked towards the tables, cautiously looking out for any traps that might have been set up. When none were discovered, person after person would go up to the food bar and grab whatever they found appetizing. Cassy and I went up together and grabbed similar food. There was dry, day old pasta and burnt chicken. A cup of room temperature water sat at the end but the soggy vegetables and the flakey mash potatoes. We grabbed what we could and a cup of water before choosing a table in the far corner. All the tables where circular with round benches around them. There was enough room for maybe eight to ten people but at most, only four sat at a table.

"So ah, hi," said the boy who had defend Cassy earlier. He and his friend who had ticked off the peacekeeper sat down across from us, a large space separating each person from another. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Cassy said in her high pitched voice. She was moving her fork through her food, watching as the burnt chicken turned the mash potatoes brown. "Thank you though, for trying to help."

"It's fine. I'm Michael by the way. What's your name?" He asked. His dark black hair reached down to the top of his eyes, which were green. His skin was smooth and pale, but it looked strong. He looked to be about seven years older than me, but I wasn't completely sure. Something behind him caught my attention and I watched as a boy moved from table to table, talking to the people sitting there.

"Cassy," She mumbled, her face growing a little red. She used her small hands to push back her long curly blonde hair. She had a small figure, one that looked like it could be broken with a tap. "This is um Emma."

"Hi," I said, looking between the two boys. The other one was digging into his food like hadn't eat in days. He brown hair was almost or just a little longer than Michael's and his blue eyes watched Cassy and I with curiousness.

"This is Eric. He's….hungry."

"Hiya" He said through his food. He waved to us before digging into his food again. Michael laughed awkwardly.

"It's okay," I said, trying to not worry him. A boy comes over and sits next to us, drawing all of our attention to him.

"Hey guys, I have a plan," He said as he sat between Michael and Eric. "We don't fight."

"What?" Michael asked, looking surprised. I could tell right now that Michael was someone who always did what they were told.

"Look, if we don't fight, then there is no games. If we don't fight, then there is no killing. What are they going to do? If they come out with their guns, we might as well attack them." He shrugged his shoulders as he put his hands out on the table. "If we don't fight, no one wins, the game ends. That is the only way we are going to survive this, trust me."

"No," Michael and Eric said. Eric had put down his food at the start of the conversation and had been listening very intently.

"If we want to survive, the last thing we do is tick off the people holding the guns," Eric said, moving away from the boy. "That is just plain stupid."

"Not only that, I highly doubt they are that stupid. They came up with elaborate plan to redo the hunger games. Don't you think they would have thought of that and only give us melee weapons so they have an advantage if someone tried anything?"

"No, common on guys, listen to me!" The boy seemed very eager and desperate in his attempts for someone to listen. I guessed no one else in the room seemed to have wanted anything to do with his plan. "If no one fights, how can there be a game? Or what if we do what they did in the book? Huh? We all threaten to commit suicide and then they have to give us our freedom! They won't just kill us all, they can't. That would be a waste of all this money, having the first attempt at the games with everyone dead before they even start. Trust me this plan will work!"

"No, keep me out of it," Michael said and Eric seemed to agree. I watched as the doors opened behind us.

"Trust me will you? You want to get out of here?" A peacekeeper walked through the door. "You want to stay alive?" He headed this way, his helmet glass reflecting our table with every step. "You want to be free from these stupid games? Then stand with me and fight!" He through his fist in the air as he yelled this last word. The peacekeeper stopped behind him and pulled out a pistol. He pointed it at the boys head and within a second, pulled the trigger. A loud, ringing noise filled the air around me. Something wet splattered around my face and clothes. I blinked a few times, too afraid to move. I didn't want the peacekeeper's gun pointed at me next.

"Listen here everyone. You. Are. Replaceable. Do not try to resist or rebel because what happened to this poor boy _will_ happen to you." A voice filled the air around the room. I watched as the boy that sat in front of me fell face first into the table, and I watched as the barrier between me and the barrel was gone. "You have five minutes." The peacekeeper turned around and walked through the door disappearing.

"Emma…" Cassy said, staring at me with wide eyes. I felt something slid down my cheek and I reached up and touched it before pulling my hand away. I stared at the pinkish liquid drop that sat perfectly still on my finger tip. For a second, I was confused at what it was but as my vision became to blur again, I released it was blood mixed with my tears. More cold tears fell from my cheek, mixing with the warm blood from the innocent boy.

"Hey, you okay?" Michael asked, staring at me with wide eyes. I looked between him and Eric and all the people around the room staring at me with the same horrified and stunned expression.

"I'm fine," I said as I quickly wiped the tears from my face. I scrubbed and scrubbed at my face with my sleeve, trying to get the feeling of his blood off my face. "I'm fine."


	3. Chapter 3

The Games

I walked down the hall behind everyone as they led us down the cold white hallway. Person after person disappeared into rooms around us. They were separating us. They didn't want us to be together for some reason, and truthfully, I was okay with that. I wanted to be alone. I didn't want to be near anyone right now. All I wanted to do was wipe away this blood and fall asleep.

"You're in here," A peacekeeper grabbed my arm and dragged me to a room. He pushed me inside and closed the door behind me with a loud slam. I turned to look out the window to see Cassy staring at me with teary eyes. She tried saying something, but I could barely hear her through the door.

"Cassy?" I asked, moving closer. What did she want? Why was she crying? A peacekeeper walked over and began to drag her away. "No." I said, realizing that I didn't want to be alone anymore. I ran to the door and banged on it. "Let her stay! No don't leave me!" I yelled, my voice getting louder with each statement. She tried fighting back, but she was no match for the peacekeeper that was almost twice her size. "No! Please! Cassy please don't take her away! No! NO!" I kicked the door as hard as I could before burying my face in it. They were gone. They were out of my sight and probably out of reach for my voice. "Please, I don't want to be alone…" I let tears spill down my cheeks, mixing with the blood that was on my face. I didn't want to be here alone.

I fell to my knees and cried. I cried, not holding anything back. I cried; I screamed; and I even took my anger out by hitting the door. I was alone and I didn't know what was going to happen. The man on the screen had said this was a replica of something known as The Hunger Games, something I had never seen. I had been too busy with working away my debts that I had not bothered to pay attention to any of the movies or books that had been everywhere. The only thing I had known about this series was that everyone but one will die, and I knew, just by looking at all of these people that I wouldn't be that one. I wouldn't be the one to survive. I had a disadvantage already by not knowing anything about the series, but most of the people in this looked strong. Half of them were men, and the other half looked like they could at least hold their own. I couldn't even do that.

"I'm sorry," I said. I didn't know exactly to who I was saying it to, but I said it anyway. I was sorry that I didn't get to say good bye to my boyfriend; I was sorry that I didn't get to say good bye to my parents; to my co-workers. I was sorry that everyone in this building was dragged into this. I just wanted it all to stop. I just wanted it all to go away.

"My dear tributes," The voice filled the room and I looked up to find a speaker in the upper right corner. "You are currently in separate rooms, and I'm sure that has upset and confused some of you, but trust me when I say this will not last. I insure you that within the week, you will all be moved to a larger room that you all will be staying in together. As for now, please, enjoy the privacy and the showers that have been given to you. I am aware that at least one of you is in need of one at this current times. That is all." The voice went dead and I looked down at myself. My black shirt had spots of dark blood and I knew that my face and neck was worse.

I looked around the room, and found a door that was partly open. I pulled myself up and walked over to it. I pushed it open to find a shower and toilet inside. I saw no soap or shampoo around. I guess they didn't want us to try to poison ourselves.

I walked over to the shower and turned the knob, letting the water shoot out of the faucet. I tested the water and it was fairly warm after a minute, so I undressed. There was no mirror in here, but that didn't bother me much. It was one less way to try to kill ourselves.

I stepped into the shower, feeling instant relief as the warm water hit me. It was almost like all my worried washed away with the dirt. I took a step closer and held my face up, letting the water hit it before it trailed down my neck to the rest of my body. The blood washed away quickly, but I still felt it there, almost like it had burned itself into my skin. So, I reached up and scrubbed my hand across it, but it did nothing. That boy's blood was on me, and no matter how much I washed it away, nothing would get rid of it.

I stay like this for a few minutes, liking the emptiness controlling my thoughts. For a few minutes, I was not here; in this situation. I was somewhere else, far away and, for the first time since I had gotten here, I felt calm. I wanted to stay here, just like this for as long as I possible could. Though, that was hard when the water went cold. I jumped back in surprise, covering my now cold skin. I stayed out of the water's reach for a second or two before reaching forward, hoping; praying that it was an accident. Yet, it wasn't. The water was now freezing cold. I reached bravely past the iced water and shut it off before stepping out. There was no towels to dry myself with so I just put back on the bloody clothes from before.

I walked back into the other room to find a mattress pushed up against the wall, but I had no idea how I was going to ever sleep. I felt exhausted but, with everything that had happened today, there was no chance of me getting a restful sleep.

I went over to the mattress and sat down on it, pushing my back against the wall. I made sure to face the door as I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my head on them. For the next whatever amount of time passed, I just sat there, staring blankly at the wall, wondering what was going to happen.

 _"_ _Hey," I opened my eyes to find myself laying on my bed. "Hey do you want to go see the Mocking Jay? It'll be fun."_

 _"_ _I haven't even seen the other ones," I turned my head to look at my boyfriend who was laying there next to me. We were both fully clothed and just lying there, enjoying each other company. "And plus, I have work."_

 _"_ _We can just watch the others before we go see it. And yea, but not for another few hours," He tried reasoning with me. I smiled at him before shaking my head._

 _"_ _It's too much trouble," I said. "It's not like me missing one popular series is really going to change anything. I'll still be at work, wasting away at a job I despise."_

 _"_ _I know," He said, sounding sad all of a sudden. This made me think that maybe I should go see it, just to make him happy and not have him worrying so much over me._

 _"_ _Okay, how about after work, we eat dinner and watch the movie?. Then we can go see it before I work again tomorrow, happy?" I said, turning over on my side and kissing him._

 _"_ _That'll work," He said before kissing me back._

"Wake up," There was a loud noise and I woke up to find a peacekeeper standing in the doorway. He was still wearing nothing but white as well as the helmit with a dark black screen over it. "Get up now."

"Why?" I said without thinking. I couldn't tell what his expression was, but I could guess by the way he moved closer to me that it wasn't good.

"I said up!" He yanked me to my feet before dragging me out of the room. He tossed me into the hallway, where I noticed other people where.

"Emma!" came a yell. I looked to find Cassy running at me. She moved through the people with easy practically tackled me when she was finally able to reach me. "Emma!"

"It's okay," I crouched down in front of her and gave her a hug. "It's okay Cassy, I'm here," I was really thankful to see her right now. Somehow not being near her scared me, and I was nothing more than relieved that she was back with me.

"Emma, I was so scared," Tears feel down her paled cheeks and I pulled her into a hug, trying to calm her. I petted her curly blond hair, hoping it would help.

"It's okay Cassy, I'm sure she won't let anything happen to you," I looked up to find Michael and Eric standing next to us. They were both looking down at us with a half-smile and I knew that they cared almost as much as I did about her. I wondered if they had felt as scared as I had over the night.

"Everyone up!" Jason appeared and I found myself on my feet within a second. "You will be escorted to the training room." He then turned around and began to walk further down the hallway. Everyone kind of stood there for a second before the peacekeepers began to push them forward. We slowly walked there, watching Jason as he held his hands behind his back and walked far ahead of us. At the end of the hallway, Jason stopped at the closed door before sliding open a panel in the wall. He typed in the code before the door shot open.

"Get inside," A peacekeeper said before pushing us inside. Cassy grabbed my arm and followed me inside. The room was huge, reaching so far that I could probably run to the end and back and it be only a mile or so. There were targets and dummy set up all around, each on in an organized mess. Along one of the walls on our right was a large variety of weapons that varied from size and shape.

The peacekeepers pushed us into a long line, where we should shoulder to should, all of us just inches apart from one another. We all face Jason, who watched us with an all might smirk.

"I'm sure you all remember who I am, so I will not repeat myself," He talked with a stern sharp tone. "After the loss of one of your tributes last night, I have been asked to _closely_ monitor you all in case someone else gets the wrong idea like him. There will be no rebellion in these games, and trust me, President Snow has already given me permission to off any of you that show signs of it. We can always play the games with one less person." His eyes trailed down the line, stopping at me for a second longer than anyone else. "You will each pick a weapon of your choice, but choose wisely because once you do, you will no longer be allowed to change."

"How long do we have to choose?" asked a blond boy. I, as long as a few others, looked at him, surprised that he would randomly speak out like that. This made Jason smile.

"Well how long do you think is an appropriate time length…?"

"Tyler," He smiled. He seemed to be enjoying this. "And I believe that at least a day or two. That way I-we…can get a feel for every weapon you have to offer us."

"Very well," Jason said, agreeing rather easily with Tyler. He took a step closer to Tyler, looking him over quickly before moving on. "You will have until tomorrow night to decide what weapon you will be choosing. Your schedule will be as followed; you will be woken up, taken here to train for a few hours, than taken to get some food before returning back here." He stopped at the end of the line and before turning back around, walking in front of everyone and looking them over. "Then you will return here to train before returning back to your rooms. This will happen over and over again until the games start. Any question?"

"When do The Games start?" asked a girl, who immediately looked like she regretted asking. Jason walked back over to her and looked her up and down, making her shy back a little. "I'm sorry."

"What is your name?" He asked, ignoring her apology.

"Mary," She said, not looking up at him.

"Well Mary, there is no reason to apologize. You had a question that wanted an answer, so you asked it." He said, something about his smile being off. He remained silent for a moment, studying her. "Since none of you have any real weapons experience, President Snow has set The Games exactly two weeks from now. Does that answer your question Mary?"

"Yes…" She mumbled, still refusing to look up at him.

"What um…" Cassy spoke but thought better of it and went quiet. Jason walked over to her and stared down at her.

"Yes?" He asked, staring down at her from above. I think he liked feeling better than everyone else. "What did you want to ask?"

"What um happens if you aren't pre-paired enough?" She asked in a small voice.

"Well that my dear is simple," He smiled as he crouched down "If you aren't ready for it, you just simply die."


End file.
